Far-right MP attacks rivals on Greek TV

Tempers frayed during a discussion on the run-up to repeat elections on June 17.

Golden Dawn spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris took offence at a reference by radical left Syriza party member Rena Dorou over a court case pending against him.

Kasidiaris, 31, bounded out of his seat and hurled a glass of water across the table over Ms Dorou when she said there was a “crisis of democracy when people who will take the country back 500 years have got into the Greek parliament”.

He then turned on prominent Communist Party member Liana Kanelli, who had got out of her chair with a newspaper in hand and appeared to throw it at the Golden Dawn member.

Talk show host Giorgos Papadakis ran over to Kasidiaris to attempt to calm him, shouting “no, no, no”, but Kasidiaris, who served in the Greek military’s special forces, hit Ms Kanelli around the face three times.

Kasidiaris was elected to parliament in the country’s recent inconclusive polls. Deputies from all seven parties that won parliament seats in the May 6 polls had been invited on the show.

A public prosecutor ordered his immediate arrest for the attacks.

Government spokesman Dimitris Tsiodras condemned the attack and said: “This attack is an attack against every democratic citizen.”

Golden Dawn vehemently denies being neo-Nazi but has been linked to violent attacks against immigrants.

The party won nearly 7 per cent of the vote on May 6, giving it 21 seats in the 300-member parliament. In 2009 it won just 0.31 per cent of the vote.

Kasidiaris is accused of participation in a 2007 attack on a student. He faces charges of assisting in robbery and bodily harm after his car was allegedly used in the incident. Kasidiaris claims the accusation is politically motivated by Syriza members. The case has been postponed until Monday.